Brian Kellow will celebrate the paperback release of his acclaimed book about the life of the late Ethel Merman with a chat at The Drama Bookshop in Manhattan Dec. 16.

The one-night-only event about the Penguin release of "Ethel Merman: A Life" is scheduled to begin at 6 PM.

Kellow interviewed more than 125 of Merman's friends and former colleagues for the biography, which also features never-before-published photos. The book, according to a press release, "reveals in great detail a side of Merman many are not familiar with. Merman was a tough-talking, hard-drinking woman of theatrical legend and a woman of enormous vulnerability, particularly where men were concerned, and she was in many ways lonely and deeply disappointed by the way her life had turned out."

Ethel Merman made her Broadway debut in 1930 in Girl Crazy. She became one of the biggest Broadway stars of her era, a woman whose name became synonymous with the musical theatre. Her many other theatrical credits include George White's Scandals; Take a Chance; Anything Goes; Red, Hot and Blue; Stars in Your Eyes; DuBarry Was a Lady; Panama Hattie; Something for the Boys; Annie Get Your Gun; Call Me Madam; Happy Hunting; Gypsy and Hello, Dolly! Merman was nominated for Tony Awards for her performances in Gypsy and Happy Hunting and won the Tony for her work in Call Me Madam. She also received a Special Tony Award in 1972. Merman died Feb. 15, 1984.

The Drama Bookshop is located in Manhattan at 250 West 40th Street (at Eighth Avenue).

"Ethel Merman: A Life" will have a retail price of $25.95. For more information visit www.briankellowwriter.com.